Periodontal Scaling Los Angeles

Noticing changes in your teeth or gums can alarm even the most placid person in the world. If your teeth feel slightly more sensitive than usual or your gums bleed after brushing or flossing, you may wonder if you have gum disease. You may even worry you may need dental surgery. It turns out there are a lot of different levels of gum disease and many nonsurgical methods of treating them, such as periodontal scaling, as performed by our Los Angeles periodontal scaling expert. Read on to find out more about gum disease and periodontal scaling.

As aforementioned, bleeding or sensitive gums or teeth can alert you to a possible infection in your mouth. Your gums may also swell, or you may even notice persistent bad breath. If these are your symptoms, chances are our Los Angeles periodontal scaling expert will be able to relieve your mouth from infection without resorting to surgery.

Los Angeles Periodontal Scaling

At your twice yearly dental cleanings, your dentist removes plaque from your teeth using a high-powered electric toothbrush. Scaling is essentially a deep dental cleaning. During this procedure, our expert in periodontal scaling in Los Angeles will go beyond a regular dental cleaning to target plaque build-up below the gum line. Our expert will either use fine metal scraping tools or an electronic tool to remove plaque from your gums. Using an ultrasonic wand results in less pain for the patient, as the instrument moves laterally to break up plaque, while manual tools like chisels require a slight digging into the gumline. Our expert will most likely use a combination of these tools to remove all the plaque lodged around your gum tissue.

Following the scaling, our expert in periodontal scaling in Los Angeles may place antibiotic fibers in your gums to prevent further infection from occurring there. These act like antibacterial stitches and are removed several days later. In addition, our expert may prescribe antibiotics to keep any new bacteria at bay and ensure you stay healthy following treatment.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of gum disease and believe scaling might prove a useful treatment, call our Los Angeles periodontist today.